This Old Map

A map project has been pinned in a corner of the design wall for over a year. Sigh. While ideas about my mother and family are swirling through my brain I also "need" to finish this project which started in a workshop with Valerie Goodwin at Empty Spools. Well, actually it started in a one-day workshop with her at my guild almost three years ago. Definitely past time to get it moving.

As an architect, Valerie uses multiple perspectives in her presentations which inspire her layered techniques in art. My map alternates between aerial and side views, expansive and close-up. At least, it does in my imagination. Getting it to fabric is the challenge.

Coit Tower map quilt in progress

I took her class with a friend. We were both excited beyond measure by the ideas spawned in Valerie’s class. I thought I was working on the lowest layer. Only as it neared completion did I realize the water layer is further “behind.” I’m unsure how to layer these overlapping regions without holes. That’s where it froze. No. That’s where I froze.

So I am determined to work on each layer individually and postpone the decision of how they mesh. This is not a bed quilt. It won’t matter how many layers I create nor how they are sewn. And the idea has been pushing at my psyche for a year. What’s the worst that could happen? It’s a flop. Well, I’ve experienced that before and survived.

Did you catch Maria Shell's recent post about the road to her summer home? Another map quilt.

I read this quote on Pamela’s blog recently:
“The most regretful people on earth are those who felt the call to creative work, who felt their own creative power restive and uprising, and gave it neither power or time.” Mary Oliver

Enjoy the day, Ann